Coronavirus (COVID-19) community resilience in Scotland's islands: research

Sanday Development Trust

Introduction

Sanday is one of the larger inhabited islands off the coast of mainland Orkney. The island is 16 miles long and has a population of approximately 500. There are two settlements that host most of the island's amenities: Kettletoft, which has two hotels, and Lady Village, which has two shops and a heritage centre. The island can be reached by ferry and by air from Kirkwall, on mainland Orkney.

Who was involved

Sanday Development Trust has been in existence since 2004 and its objectives are to: "create an economically prosperous, sustainable community that is connected to the wider world, but to remain a safe, unspoilt environment where people are proud to live, able to work, to bring up and educate their children, to fulfil their own hopes and ambitions, and to grow old gracefully, enjoying the quality of life that is second to none."

When COVID-19 hit, the Trust focused its activities on providing a package of support for people on the island impacted by the pandemic. It was supported with funding from the Scottish Government's Supporting Communities Fund, administered by HIE.

The Trust is one of three community organisations on Sanday. The others are Sanday Community Association, which provides recreation and leisure facilities and organises activities for island residents, and Sanday Community Council. In delivering its package of support, the Development Trust worked closely with both these organisations as well as with the wider, informal network of groups, clubs, businesses and individuals on the island.

"The Trust had more access to funding and facilities than the other groups. But we were one part of a much bigger picture."

Alongside the activities of the Trust, Sanday Community Council also formed a community resilience group in response to the pandemic. This was one of a number of community resilience groups established across the Orkney islands, formed around existing community council structures. Through regular meetings, these groups assisted Orkney Islands Council to identify local issues and ensure appropriate support (from the council, NHS Orkney and other agencies) was provided where needed. The Sanday Community Resilience Group included representatives from the Development Trust, as well as the local surgery and service providers.

Why the project started

Sanday Development Trust's project was initiated in direct response to the pandemic, with the overall aim of helping people on the island that were most in need of support. The Trust felt that supporting those in need was fundamental to their role and was simply what the community would have expected from them.

"It is what people would have expected from a Development Trust. If we hadn't [provided this support] we would have questioned our purpose. It gave us the opportunity to prove our worth and to jump into action."

The nature of living and working on a small island meant that the financial impacts of COVID-19 were being acutely felt. Several people on the island carried out manual jobs, and often had multiple jobs at the same time - for example, someone might work part time at the ferry terminal, part time as a courier, and part time in the airport. Many of these jobs were directly impacted by the pandemic, meaning that several people on the island lost their main, if not all, sources of income.

The Trust therefore initiated its project to help those that were in financial need, including those that had lost their income as a result of COVID-19 (these people could identify themselves as being in this position and then come forward). They initially did this through by providing a food support scheme, though the project later developed to include other aspects, as outlined below.

What the project involved

Food support

The project started as a food support scheme, allowing people to claim £10 per week per family member towards their shopping (at either of the two shops on the island). This was targeted at those that had lost income as a result of COVID-19, as well as those in financial need that were aged over 70, had been notified by the NHS as being 'vulnerable', or had young children. For the first ten weeks this scheme was funded directly by the Trust, as they were not yet clear what external funding might be available, nor how long the support would be needed. In the first ten weeks, it helped over 50 people (around 10% of the island).

External funding then became available through the Scottish Government's Supporting Communities Fund. There was flexibility in how the funding could be used, meaning the Trust could decide how best to use it to meet the needs of islanders. They used some of the funding to continue the food support scheme, allowing this to continue for a further six weeks.

Home fuel grant

Funding was allocated towards a home fuel grant, involving a one-off payment of £50 towards home heating costs. The grant was paid directly to the fuel supplier and was available to the same groups as the food scheme.

Emergency equipment

During lockdown, it would have been difficult for tradespeople to travel to the island, for example to repair household equipment. The Trust therefore purchased a new washing machine and fridge freezer, which were available to use at the community centre. This meant that if someone's washing machine or fridge broke down, they could use these facilities in the meantime (see image in figure 1.14 below).

Source: Sanday Trust Times, at www.sandaydt.org

"No Home Is Alone"

The 'No Home is Alone' initiative involved a group of volunteers, working with the Trust, phoning around every household to make sure people were okay and ask if they needed any support. This was partly to make sure people knew what support was available, but also so that they felt connected and not isolated. Part of the Trust's (and volunteers') role was to encourage people to take up support that was available. When making these calls, they found that some people in the community were initially reluctant to take up support, feeling that others would be more in need than they were (even though they had specific needs, were elderly, or were shielding).

"Often people who are in need don't like to take it because they feel that others are in greater need. So part of our role was showing people that this was their time, that they were worthy of the support, and that it was okay to accept it."

Technology and communication

Supporting communication and connectivity was part of the No Home is Alone initiative. Funding enabled the Trust to buy technology they could provide (on loan) to help people stay connected (see image in figure 1.15 below). This included radios, smart speakers, phones, tablets and mobile hotspots, which members of the Trust would help install. They also organised events such as a weekly online Zoom bingo, as a way to keep the community connected and interacting with each other.

Source: Sanday Trust Times, at www.sandaydt.org

They felt these online forms of communication were vital in helping to maintain the social interaction and sense of community that are such important aspects of life on the island. When an easing of restrictions allowed, they therefore opened the Bubble Café, as a space for people to start meeting again in person.

"What holds a community together is social interaction. And when that all stopped, you are literally cutting the connections that make a place a community. So we had to find ways of helping people to interact with each without being physically together."

Other aspects

The Trust also used the funding to purchase hand sanitiser, produced locally by the Orkney Distillery in Kirkwall. Bottles of hand sanitiser were delivered to every household on the island, and free refills were provided to key workers and other individuals that needed it. They also offered to pay the fuel expenses for people that had volunteered to help deliver food or supplies to others on the island, so that these volunteers were not out of pocket. However, nobody took up this offer, as they were happy to do this without being reimbursed.

What next?

Most of the initiatives outlined above have now come to an end, as they were mainly focused on supporting islanders during the earlier stages of the pandemic when lockdown measures were at their most restrictive. However, the Trust still has technology equipment that they make available, to help keep people connected, and offers use of the emergency washing machine and fridge.

The Trust also continues to provide a range of types of support for the community, including ongoing initiatives specifically related to COVID-19 (for example, it offers free Lateral Flow Tests and help on how to use them). It continues to communicate with islanders through its newsletter (the Trust Times), signposting to resources, events and other support.

The other community organisations on the island (the Community Association and the Community Council) are also ongoing.

Reflections

Overall, the Trust considered the project a success. It largely managed to achieve what it set out to do, and did not experience any significant challenges along the way.

Success factors

The existing community networks on the islands were seen as a key reason why the project worked as well as it did. This included the formal network of community organisations that already existed prior to the pandemic (the Development Trust, Community Council and Community Association), that were able to mobilise quickly and reach out to people that were most in need. It also included the more informal networks on the island – the local shops that provided food, the postal workers who helped with deliveries, the over 50s club that provided meals on wheels, and the island residents who looked out for and/or checked in on their neighbours. This community network was described as being proactive and resourceful, with an in-built sense of resilience that comes from living on a small island.

"The islands are more resilient, capable or resourceful than the mainland. Where you have a bigger population, most people sit back and wait for things to happen, because there are services like the council, the police, the NHS…On the islands it works the other way around, with the sense that 'we will do this ourselves, because who else will?'"

The fact that the existing network was there meant that the Trust did not have to reach out to ask for volunteers to help – people came forward, and they tapped into that existing network.

"In this community people realise that what happens to someone else today could easily happen to them tomorrow. So people genuinely care and look out for each other."

Regular communication across the islands, through fortnightly meetings between the Community Development Officers, was also considered very helpful to the success of the project. These meetings, which were initiated by HIE, helped them to share ideas and tips on dealing with particular issues, and generally support each other. They also willingly shared that information with mainland Orkney.

The external funding from the Scottish Government was another key factor in the success of the project, helping the Trust to sustain its food support scheme and roll out the other elements of the project. The Trust also received "invaluable" guidance from HIE when applying for funding.

Lessons learned

One of the key lessons from the project was the importance of community. As already noted, the island has a strong sense of community which meant that people checked on and looked out for each other. Close connections and communication with people across the island also made it easier for the Trust to know who might be in need of support.

"I realised that sense of community does mean something, and it does work. If it didn't, then we would have really struggled…I am grateful that during a pandemic I was on an island that was able to get on with things and not have to rely on someone else coming in and doing it for us."

Another lesson was the importance of providing people with a means of connecting with each other. On an island where people rely so much on social interaction, it was important to replicate that as much as possible. They managed to do this, to an extent, using technology.

Though not a major concern, the Trust acknowledged that being in a small community means being somewhat reliant on certain active individuals to lead and get involved in initiatives. What happens when those people leave or pass away? However, they had also seen new people coming to live on the island who had come forward to get involved in community activities, which was an encouraging sign.

What community resilience means to the Trust

Reflecting on what 'community resilience' means to them, the Trust stressed that this is a characteristic that is inherent in small islands. As noted above, they felt that resilience was linked with a strong sense of community and a desire to get things done, rather than waiting for someone else to take action.

"Resilient is something that island communities have always been. We have that sense of getting on with it, doing things for ourselves. Even if people on the islands are not your friends or you don't know them very well, you are still connected to them. So that sense of community means you come together and get through it."

Advice to others

In terms of advice for other communities, the importance of communication was emphasised. Communication among members of the community helped to ensure that the people that needed support received it, and communication between representatives of the islands helped to learn lessons and built a broader network of support.